Chapter 29: Respect Begets Respect
In a white room.
It was the room where Lucas spent his day until he was healed from his Null Room incident: the Infirmary Room. Again, he was there, laying on a bed with Moon. Time after time and he had gotten into so much trouble. Not to mention that Principal Lyns restricted all of the participants to move without her permission.
Visible wounds and bruises marked the skins of the two boys laying on their beds. At the corner of the room, two people waited for them to be awakened again; to talk with them about what had happened. Those two were a boy and a girl.
The woman was Pea Hardshell, a member of the Three Beasts. She was known to be the muse of the school, though she wasn't convinced if she deserved to be hailed with that recognition. She wore a hoodie that separated its upper part as pink, and the lower part as cobalt blue.
She happened t
Chapter 30: Just a Mere DisturbanceThe renovated canteen remained the same as the previous one, still the same structure and design. The only difference was that the securities became tighter, and the people who can enter it had lessened. It looked like the school didn't want to have a crowded canteen and a stampede again in case of emergencies like before.The tables that were lined up into rows previously became circular that was surrounded by chairs. At a table, Lucas sat there, facing the Headmaster Nova. He didn't know what was his plans, but right now, their aims started to unite into a single goal: to save Doll.At his side was Moon that was not in a mood to listen to the plans they were talking to; with Ghaile and Winter accompanying them with their plan-making since they were worried about Doll; the Headmaster wanted to have Winter with them since he trusted her.Their search party was comp
Chapter 31: Escaping the Sky PrisonMister Vacio was standing at the floor beyond the room Doll was tied up to. The passage to that chamber was left opened, as he eyed the helpless Doll laying on the floor full of ashes. He was leaving her already.Doll stared at him as if wondering. The things that he said… What was that? CorpseBoy? What the actual crap was happening? What was Vacio planning?"Wait!" she exclaimed, thus making Vacio looked over her.She had thought of a plan to break free. Now that the chair wasn't intacted anymore with the floor, she can walk over but she has to keep it with herself. She knew this Vacio had some boneheadedness in him. If she perform her plan the way she yearned it to be, things will come off well."I want to leave. Please release me." she ordered with a calm voice, as if making Vacio soft with her pleading. "I have to go to the bathroom."She made her eyes somehow like a puppy, and begged again, gawking at Mister Vacio.Vacio stared at him in noncha
Chapter 32: Aforementioned BlazeLucas looked over the voice from above. As he reared from the ground floor of the thin building before them, he saw a familiar face as he continued rearing through the middle of the structure. It was Mister Vacio, reeling at the middle of the sky prison.His face was twisted in pain and Lucas was unaware what had happened to him; also, he has no interest on knowing it. What ignited his anger was this man's presence. He was here again, right before his eyes."I swear vengeance on you, Lucas, and I will show you my true goal: one that was pure evil!" Mister Vacio shouted from above, still continuing his rally.He stared at his helpless face. That face was so irritating as always. But it excited him that he can use his powers this time in a combat that he will be useful. At any time, he was ready to fight this sucking man."I will take responsibility for this…" Lucas vocalized to his team, blocking their ways as he stood. "Get Doll back to his father! Lea
Chapter 33: That Was a Nice ShowLucas was still on immense pain. He continuously coughed hard as he held onto his chest, laying on the ground. He couldn't process what he had learned with the pain he was feeling. What he has on mind was why the pain so sudden?The pain remained in his chest like the hole on Vacio's book. But what he said shouldn't be true. It must be a deceiving trap ane he won't fall for that kind of stuff."Just admit it."He heard Vacio spoke. But as he tried to glance over him, his vision remained black and his ears were ringing with a strange noise. He covered his ears with both of his hands, but the noise wasn't ceasing already."You're lying! You're lying!" he became outrageous. "How come the hole on that book and this pain a firm proof? Don't try to coat your lies!"Vacio stood straight on his ground, staring on the boy front of him. He smiled as he stared at his helpless state. The pain he had caused him was intense, and he was quite surprised that Lucas has
Chapter 34: Mysterious Fifth GenLucas just kept his gaze at the Principal, the Headmaster, and Doll as they kept the same way to him, too. A moment of silence covered the whole room.This room didn't change at all. It was the same leather sofa that he had seen before, looking like the same as the Aspho's office.He cleared his throat before composing himself. "Miss Lyns, Headmaster Nova… the people who attacked Doll were people from Aspho," he mentioned. "namely CorpseBoy, ArmorBoy, and BladeGirl. I thought that my favor to you is to ban those craps at White Day High."Now, he had compelled himself to ask for this. If any favor would work, then it was his right time to plead with things like this. He stared at the Headmaster. His face wasn't changing at least a little. If he has the generosity to ask what he wanted, then maybe he has the power to fulfill it.He stared at Doll. No, shouldn't. He just shifted his gaze at the Principal. Her face seemed to be slightly shocked. No, it fel
Chapter 35: Punches For Each of ThemThe next day, Wednesday, Lucas packed his things and took a ride to the school to study. He was still bothered about the Fifth Gen that the Coach Clive had told them. He haven't seen the rest of the Selected Participants for a week already, and he had no clue who those unnamed two were.He just neglected his thoughts as he walked to the hallway, as he evaded the rails on the 32nd floor. Just as he thought about it, this floor was the area where he had fought Winter, beside the Fire Class Room that he first entered. This floor gave him uncomfortableness.As he continued advancing with caution, he saw the strange stares of the people again that were now bothering him. Is something bad will happen again?Was the news of Doll's abduction had reached the students? Or the parents? This will be a pain in the neck, but he was certain that Principal Lyns will keep that abduction a secret. Surely those that he had seen at the Infirmary Room were informed abo
Chapter 36: Let's Boycott Lucas Martin!After Lucas and Principal Lyns have left each other, he started parting ways with the Principal and started to walk away. In his mind, he has to see Moon. He has been acting strange since the day of Doll's abduction.As the turned right to the next chamber, a pair of hands took him next to the wall and grabbed his arm above his head. "What do you think you're doing?"Lucas saw Zanc glaring sharply at him in anger. He took a big step forward, still holding his arm.His right wrist was held in his vice-like grip and was extremely painful to him, but his eyes were cold and trained on Zanc. This was the spot where he usually assault, since he knew he was injured with this. He doted on his brown face, his left cheek was swollen.That punch he gave him; he made sure that Zanc's face will be in this condition, blood appearing at the edge of his lips. He remembered how he laid on the floor where he fell with Maru, looking pitiful and confounded.To thin
Chapter 37: Drenched with ColdwaterLucas stopped reading those feeds and focused on training his skills as he went back to the school. For some remaining time, the Overall Skill Selection will be held.But with that afternoon, as he was readying to practice, his Official Media channel began crowding with posts demanding that he should apologize to Mister Vacio. Apart from that were posts demanding that he should leave the White Day High as well. Lucas got tired of reading all those posts, so he locked himself inside the training room and practiced his agility once again.Once finished, Doll happened to call him and asked, "Lucas, are you okay?"Lucas tried his best to relax himself and wipe his sweat inside the training room full of fallen swords and knives, as he half-leaned on the nearly-crushed wall; his fingers trailing on the swelling wound he had gotten. He replied to Doll with a sigh, "I'm good.""Do you need any help?"He heard the concern from Doll after her reply; his lips
Chapter 44: Tainted SelectionThe group continued to shield themselves, as the loud noise was still banging at the Ground.As it came to an end, Winter released her shield, as well as Moon to his force field."So this how the Overall Skill Selection works.." Lucas noted to himself.Footsteps heard.They all looked back to witness someone going towards them.THUD! The girl that was supposed to go towards them fell onto the Ground! Lucas rushed to help her."Are you okay?!" Lucas panicked, as well as Moon and Doll. The rest of them went there to see who is that girl.The girl looked pale. She has her hip-length, blue hair. She was bruised and exhausted.----"So that Ender has the power to control others with her loud noise?" Doll asked, sitting on a boulder along with the others.The girl they met was still weak, and was still lying on their made-up bed. Moon and Ghaile were there near at her to treat her."We should check if the others were also okay.." Winter whispered."No! Let them
Chapter 43: Inside the Virtual CityThe day of the actual Overall Skill Selection came to commence. Lucas, Moon, Winter, Ghaile and Doll reside at the same spot while everyone are scattered."Only 8 Participants should be left on the Ground before we end the Selection. Those 8 will be trained and will be the part of White Day's team for the Tournament."Principal Lyns instructed the rules of the Selection. Standing in the middle of the whole city-like field. Holding a microphone, she said "It was not a one-on-one battle, nor tag battles.. It was an all-out war!""It was like what the Tournament does. Even a group of people can beat a single one if they wanted. They can hide to prevent being defeated, too.""You can be defeated anytime. You can stand again anytime you fall. But one thing is for sure.. The one who keeps standing until the end will be the one who will be selected!"Lucas listened carefully despite being nauseous yesterday. He can't sleep that night, thinking about the dan
It was four o'clock in the afternoon when I decided to go home. My Dad immediately opened up the door for me."Where did you came from?""Just there with—""What did you get with what you're doing, huh, Xia?" He was furious.How did he know?"D-Dad…""Stop what you're doing, Xia. You won't get anything out of it!" He was so angry, I couldn't stare at his eyes. "You'll just be damned there!""But, Dad...""I want you to stop! Another news about you that was related to that woman… you'll be grounded!"I no longer answered. I just nodded and went straight to my bedroom. I could understand why he was worried for me. His worry was obvious in the tone of his voice.How can I investigate further? The three suspects have been confirmed, the only one left is the latter. Who are you? Are you involved? Did you leave a trace? Why did you come back?It was hard! So many questions were in my mind until now. But how can I answer all of this when I have limited things to do?I fell asleep thinking. T
As Lucas was asleep, he was unaware that The Ender was outside the apartment. She was wandering outside, chanting a different language. It sounded like a fable or a tale.The wind blew outside the apartment, at the cliff where The Ender was walking. As she held onto the grass, she continued talking about the chants she was musing over."THE HAUNTED HOUSE"She talked. Then, she began narrating."Oh, Rosy! I was told that the house you bought was haunted," said Ariana, new friend of mine.We have moved there recently, in Ariana's town and the news that greeted me was that— there was a ghost inside our house that they said was haunted. I don't believe them. It was almost a month when we got here but there was no sighting of any ghostly thing here. The thing I was afraid of was my younger brother that was always laughing."Where did you get that hearsay? You're already a college student and that spooky stories we use to scare kids was still your thing," I said, almost laughing loudly at h
Chapter 40: Night Before the SelectionA few hours have passed since the Press Conference took place at the White Day High as well as the conversation with Lucas and Vacio. As Lucas lied on his bed, he grabbed his phone for some news he wanted to read.Bunch of onlookers are still continuing to bash him online, adding the scene he created at the meeting. Some are also blaming him for the expelling of the Two Bastions.But the cynosure of all the news article was the scene he created while brawling with Mister Vacio. That was a bad news. He didn't know what made him do that.The ruckus continued nonstop, and the stares given to him have changed, according to what he felt that time. If before, they look at him in contempt, now they were avoiding him as if they were intimidated. Lucas didn't really understand the people in this school as he covered himself with a blanket on his bed at his apartment.But what he didn’t expect was that he wasn’t punished because of the scene he made. When
Chapter 39: The Name He Was CalledLucas stood before a coffee shop that was located near the city center of White Day. Before he even got there, he realized that Mister Vacio had already arrived. He was so punctual and having some kind of stuff late wasn't his thing.One look was enough for him to recognize Vacio. In the dim light, he was sitting quietly beside a scenery window with a pot of untouched mint tea near his hand. He slightly tilted his face towards the window and looked like he was irritated.His tuxedo was buffed and it looked like his right hand was casted. Lucas didn't know what caused his hand to be like that, but he must bet it was for the public sympathy. Since all the people believed that he was the one who caused damages to Vacio, it was easy for him to rev things up by disguising as the injured one.Outside the window, there were lush broad-leaved trees that caused him to seem warmer and petty than usual. However, Lucas knew that it was just the illusion of a res
Chapter 38: How Do You Know It?Lucas continued walking out, but he was petrified when he heard that name. He didn't know if that was Vacio trying to piss him off, but it was a different voice.The words "Nice speech, Blaze Harper…" slowly resonated inside the hall as he stopped walking.He turned harshly to where it came from and saw a familiar man clapping with a smile from the far corner of the Conference Hall. He was greatly taken aback. He knew his haughty aura very well. He was not Mister Vacio.Isn't that Coach Clive?His memories of when he battled Vacio reappeared like sprouts. Was it true? Did Vacio say that Coach Clive knew all of the events from the past life he was saying? How come it was true?With all of the happenings interrupting her thoughts, Lucas recalled how Clive was overbearing and protective over him, significantly with the Null Room Incident. He cannot help his temper and walked back to the Conference Hall with an obvious anger.Everyone turned to look as he h
Chapter 37: Drenched with ColdwaterLucas stopped reading those feeds and focused on training his skills as he went back to the school. For some remaining time, the Overall Skill Selection will be held.But with that afternoon, as he was readying to practice, his Official Media channel began crowding with posts demanding that he should apologize to Mister Vacio. Apart from that were posts demanding that he should leave the White Day High as well. Lucas got tired of reading all those posts, so he locked himself inside the training room and practiced his agility once again.Once finished, Doll happened to call him and asked, "Lucas, are you okay?"Lucas tried his best to relax himself and wipe his sweat inside the training room full of fallen swords and knives, as he half-leaned on the nearly-crushed wall; his fingers trailing on the swelling wound he had gotten. He replied to Doll with a sigh, "I'm good.""Do you need any help?"He heard the concern from Doll after her reply; his lips
Chapter 36: Let's Boycott Lucas Martin!After Lucas and Principal Lyns have left each other, he started parting ways with the Principal and started to walk away. In his mind, he has to see Moon. He has been acting strange since the day of Doll's abduction.As the turned right to the next chamber, a pair of hands took him next to the wall and grabbed his arm above his head. "What do you think you're doing?"Lucas saw Zanc glaring sharply at him in anger. He took a big step forward, still holding his arm.His right wrist was held in his vice-like grip and was extremely painful to him, but his eyes were cold and trained on Zanc. This was the spot where he usually assault, since he knew he was injured with this. He doted on his brown face, his left cheek was swollen.That punch he gave him; he made sure that Zanc's face will be in this condition, blood appearing at the edge of his lips. He remembered how he laid on the floor where he fell with Maru, looking pitiful and confounded.To thin